That evening, on the day the ruins vanished, in the Western Valley of the Service Kingdom.
The garrison commander responsible for guarding the entrance to the ruins was a sturdy, rough-featured man in his forties named Karen. One look at him was enough to tell he was a veteran who had spent years in the army.
He stood at the edge of the flat stretch of gravel, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him. Shock gave way to bewilderment on his face, then bewilderment to fear.
The ruins were gone.
The enormous sinkhole, the half-open stone door, the passage leading underground—all of it had vanished.
Only a flat stretch of gravel remained. The soil beneath it was still damp, as though something had just turned it over.
A faint trace of lightning-element energy lingered in the air, but it was already so weak that a gust of wind would scatter it.
"What's going on? What happened?" Karen turned to the soldiers around him, his voice trembling with shock.
The soldiers looked at one another. None could explain it.
They had been guarding the place the whole time. They had watched the explorers inside get teleported out one after another. Then the entire ruin had sunk, collapsed, and finally disappeared.
It had all happened in less than half an incense stick's time, too fast for anyone to react.
"General, should we send someone down to take a look?" an adjutant suggested cautiously.
"Down? Down where?"
Karen pointed at the flat gravel, his voice sharp with anger. "The ruins are gone. Tell me where anyone's supposed to go down!"
The adjutant drew his neck in and said no more.
Karen took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
Looking around, he saw that the explorers who had been teleported out